


A Crow's Call

by VexedVarn



Category: Original Work
Genre: A short story for my creative writing class, Crow irony?, Henry Woods - Freeform, How Do I Tag, Jacobsburg, Later alternate ending, M/M, Pennsylvania, Two minor characters at the start, Walks In The Woods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:26:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VexedVarn/pseuds/VexedVarn
Summary: Heya, Varn again. I don't know if anyone's going to actually look at this, but I figured I'd upload it anyway. I wrote this for my creative writing class with the topic of 'southern gothic literature' in mind. With this done, I can finally get to chapter six of MOKCF 〒▽〒
Relationships: Hint of Terrence/Ray





	A Crow's Call

The steady rumble of a rusty pickup truck jostled cans on the nearby sidewalk, the clanging loud in the otherwise calm night. Faded red from the truck’s brake lights illuminated the sidewalk and side alleys, and a man's haggard face was revealed to the dim night, a sentry waiting by the dark bus stop. Once the passing lights faded, he was unnoticed once more, a stranger assimilated with the dull bricks he was leaned against.

It was another few minutes before anything moved, the barking of a distant dog starting and stopping in the time before another man started towards the bus stop, warm breaths puffing into the cool night air. The man's stride was interrupted suddenly, a hand shooting out from the shadows to halt him. A low tipped hat emerged from the cover of the building, a trench coat following the motion to reveal a man with a scruffy beard. The hand was lowered.

Tipping his head up, a set of eyes peered out from under the brim of the shadowed cowboy hat. “You’re gonna have ta stop right there, fella. I have some questions I think you’d be mighty interested in answerin’...” The man said.

The two only stared at each other in the lingering silence that followed, the quiet lasting only a few moments, soon broken by what may have been the same errant dog barking off to the far right. Laughter overcame the men suddenly, both at the dog and their own antics, and the sudden outburst quelled what little silence remained in the street.

Struggling words broke through the last of the laughs, the second man pretending to wipe a tear from his eye as he addressed his companion. “John, how the hell do you always manage to do that? I swear you’ve gotta show up early just to get the chance to mess with somebody.”

“A magician never tells his secrets Will.” The man in the trench coat said. He didn’t deny it.

“Alright ya jokester, just get over here.” 

The two made their way over to the same rusty truck that had passed by earlier, hoisting themselves up onto the open tailgate with little complaint from the truck’s suspension. Popping preceded the click of beer caps as they were tossed into the truck bed, and the bottles gave a little clink as the men tapped them together. John, the hat wielder, downed a good fourth of his beer before either spoke.

John gave a throaty hum. “Nice, you got some Coors this time. I swear it tastes better than Budweiser.”

“The guys that hang out at the diner would argue otherwise, but opinions are opinions. You ought to come hang out with us again sometime, John.” Will said.

“Yeah, has been a while since most of us got all together.” said John.

“Speaking of not getting together, you seen Ray around lately?” 

“No, fella’s pretty hard to keep track of, goin’ on all his spelunking, ‘n hikes, and whatnot. You know anything about what he’s up to these days?”

“Yeah, he sometimes posts about what he’s been up to on his facebook. Always posts pictures of different trails and healthy restaurants, that sort of stuff. Heard he’s moving again though.” Will said.

“Runaway Ray’s back at it again, huh? Makes you wonder if he’s ever goin’ to settle down.. I hope he does, that kid needs to cool off.” John said.

“Me too, John, me too.”

* * *

The car let out a half-hearted honk, and I pulled up the trunk to shove my boxes into the back of the little Toyota. Striding back into the apartment with a little huff, my roommate tried again to convince me to stay.

“Ray, come on, can’t we talk this out more? You only said you wanted to move out a couple of days ago, I don’t even have another person set on moving in yet! Just slow down a minute, please..!” Terrence jumped in between me and the door to my old room, trying to meet my eyes.

I hesitated, but my shoulders slumped and I looked at him properly. “Sorry, look I just.. I can’t stay, you knew I wasn’t going to live here forever. I told you that before I moved in.”

I continued, “I can send your contact info to a couple buddies of mine, spread the word at least. Please just let me go get my stuff.” 

He stayed there for a moment, hoping I’d reconsider, but I wasn’t going to budge on this. His gaze dropped, and he let me pass to get the rest of my things.

There wasn’t much I had to pack, mostly just clothes to pack into my suitcase and a few albums and CDs to load into my backpack. I brushed a hand over the bottom drawer, the last one I had to empty, and I pulled the handle with a shaky hand. Gently, I picked up a folded blazer resting atop an old uniform. I’d never opened the drawer or worn the coat during my stay with Terrence, but it still felt like it had been all too soon since the last time I’d seen it.

I plucked a little silver pin from the lapel, a flowery little scrawl that was as much a badge as it was a branding. ‘Barnyll’, more like banal. There was nothing special about that family, no matter how many trophies or titles they all flaunted and toted around. My face scrunched up like someone had given me cranberry juice when I’d asked for orange. I was still careful to lift the contents out of the drawer, setting them into a box to be shoved into the recesses of my car.

Hefting the last of my stuff onto my shoulders, I carried them out and loaded them into the trunk of my car. Terrence watched me load up the car from the doorway, and I took the time to make sure everything was secure before turning back to the apartment.

Dejected, he straightened out of his slump on the doorframe before addressing me. “I guess this is it, huh? Sure you won’t change your mind?”

I didn’t hesitate. ”Yeah, I’ll let some of my pals know you’re looking for a roommate. It was nice rooming with ya, I’m sure there’ll be people up for it.”

“Yeah.. I probably won’t be seeing you around, but try to keep in touch if you can. I know it’s hard for you though, busy ‘n all..”

Terrence broke eye contact, an arm coming up to brace the back of his head, and he tucked his other hand into his pocket. “I’m just gonna miss you, man. Stay safe, okay?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout me, I’ll be just fine. Always am.” I gave him my best smile.

He returned the grin, his expression a little sad if nothing else. I got the car started, the toyota’s engine sputtering before rolling out into a steady purr. I popped One Republic’s latest album into the radio and set up my phone’s GPS on the dashboard. With one last wave to Terrence, I turned out onto the street before following the GPS’ route to a nice trail a little ways away.

Henry Woods certainly sounds like it’d be nice at this time in November.

* * *

Pulling up to the forest was both anticlimactic and intimidating, the looming shadows of the pines off-putting for a reason I couldn’t describe. The combination was by far the most weird impression a place had ever given me. Tearing my gaze from the ominous forest, I turned to the stone path leading to a little ranger station. Before I could pass under a wooden archway, I paused to look at the metal disk hanging from the top beams. The wood framed the indentation of a raven in the metal, oddly enough.

I’d never cared much for birds, but I can remember not only members of my family but also the various officials and higher ups they’d met with disliking the birds. They’d always said they were bringers of death, a blight upon those who witnessed them, similar to their avoidance of black cats. The Barnylls had always been a rather superstitious family, not that I had believed anything they’d said. It didn’t take long to learn I shouldn’t take what my family said to heart.

I strode on further, practically fueled by the thought of how they would’ve seen the place. The cabin’s door gave a cheery little jingle, and the first thing I saw was the hand-painted sign hanging above the counter, a proud ‘Welcome to Henry Woods’. The second thing I saw was a buff woman manning the counter, presumably the working ranger of the trail, judging by the patches and pins dotting her coat. The third was all the crow statues.

Grabbing a map and another catalog from the stands lined up on the countertop, I tilted my head up to address the ranger when I couldn’t see an estimated time for the trail. “Miss, do you know how long the trail might take?”

“It’s about two miles, 45 minutes or so since there’s not a lot of people today.”

Her voice was surprisingly low, the monotony of her dark complexion broken by a few scars and little wrinkles at the edges of her eyes. She stood taller than me by an inch or two at most, but her broad shoulders and scarred palms made for an intimidating picture. A name tag pinned to the front of her coat read ‘Victoria Brallenheimer’.

The heavy clomp of her boots was enough for me to jump, and I stepped a little closer to the counter instinctively when she made her way past me to a room to the right of a fireplace. I stared after her for a moment or two before turning to inspect the counter further. A picture was tilted towards the back wall, facing where the ranger, Victoria, had been. I leaned in to look at the photo, smiling faces peering up at me from the aged photograph.

To my surprise, Victoria was there, younger and accompanied by a little girl with braids, a relative presumably, and they both grinned up at me from a sparkling pool. The glare from sunlight was there even with the age of the picture, and other people could be seen in the lawn behind them, the wrinkled, deteriorating edges of the photo threatening the clarity of the image.

I took a cautious step around the counter, and the consequent wooden crow statue standing vigilant to the right of it. The fireplace itself didn’t look like it had been used in the last year at least, but the wood burning stove to the left of it was still producing a nice warmth for the room. There were more pictures up on the brick mantle, and I could see all of them had a lot of people, the same large family. They were all pretty old though, which I found odd because I’d read on the park’s website that none of the ranger’s stayed here year round. So why were all of these photos from Victoria deteriorating..?

There were even more crow statues everywhere, and the more I looked, the more I thought these were hand carved. You could see the little nicks in the wood from a whittling knife, a careful texture on each bird. Maybe the ranger did these, but I have to wonder why. I guess it could be simply boredom, but there are a lot of other animals in these woods too. The clicking of the door next to the fireplace threw me off, and I glanced up in time to see Victoria walk out, the door closing behind her with a quiet click.

She stopped in front of me, and I shrunk a little under her stare before she handed me a pamphlet. The paper folds opened out to reveal a map of the Henry Woods trail, and how it connected to the larger Jacobsburg trail. I looked up to thank the ranger for her help, but found her staring at me with an odd intensity, her eyes like ice chips.

“You be careful out there, you never know what might happen..”

I could only stammer out a thank you before I shuffled to the door, trying not to bolt. I barely relaxed once I was out the door, the bell’s little jingle feeble. I stared at the cabin for another moment, trying to process what I felt like may or may not have been a threat before I hurried towards the entrance of the trail. Best to get out of here as soon as I can.

I stopped to snap a picture and pose for the camera once I was far enough away from the cabin, my smile a little shaky at the edges but good enough for Facebook. The trail looked easy enough and I set off after stuffing the map into my bag. The trees were tall and diverse, the thick and thin trunks allowing for dappled sunlight to stream in through the leaves. The general path was also easy to follow, few markings on the trees with little to no paths to diverge from, and it generally started to taper off into a wider corridor walled off with trees.

The further I went the darker it seemed to get, and I could only chalk it up to thickening vegetation for so long. I knew the trees were getting denser, but it shouldn’t be this dark. Maybe a rainstorm started? I didn’t see anything about it for the weather today, but it was a little cloudy earlier.. 

I glanced at the trees again. The walls only seemed to get thicker and thicker, the gaps between the trunks and boughs less and less wide until I could only just see through them. I couldn’t have tried to weave through them unless I had some sort of power tool, and the most I had was my phone battery and a compass.

The park rangers must have cleared this out, right? I’ve never seen anything like it, but this obviously must have been manmade, there’s no way this sort of thing can happen naturally! And surely it must just be raining soon right? I bet that’s why everything’s gone so quiet, the animals have just hidden for the oncoming rainstorm. 

I pulled my hat down before I looked at my phone again. This walk felt like too long for just two miles, surely I must be past the middle. The phone’s screen glared up at me, the light almost too bright in the surrounding dusk. I only got to catch a glance at the website before the screen flickered and shut off. I could only stare at it in shock, for once pausing my walking before I started forward again at a hurried pace, mind racing. My phone was past half battery just ten minutes ago, there was no reason it should have shut off like that!

The overbearing silence pressed down on me now that I knew I was without help, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The trees wouldn’t lighten up any, and the tunnel seemed to go on forever, like a never ending corridor. Glancing behind me didn’t help any, it only seemed to get darker back the way I came. My only choice was to keep moving.

My breath stuttered at the first snap. A branch snapped somewhere off to my right side, but I couldn’t hear anything else, only the crack of thin, dry wood. Then came another, larger, sound of a branch, the crack like a loud gunshot in the desolate trees. I buried the instinctual whimper that tried to wrest itself from me at the third snap, I can’t afford to alert anything that may be here.

Frantically, I tried to turn my phone back on, desperate to label the shutdown of the device as a fluke. Come on, come on..! The screen flickered, and a smile spread wide across my face as I held the device in shaking hands. I could call for help, I could finally get out of here, I could- ..couldn’t do any of that. I could feel tears well in my eyes when I looked down at the screen, the phone displaying a cheery little message. ‘Sorry, it seems you can’t connect to the signal right now. Try again later or contact your provider.’

I shoved my phone back in my pocket, trying to keep moving. There further I got the more infuriated I felt, I couldn’t believe this was how I was going to die. Alone on a stupid trail for a Facebook account people barely even looked at, trying to impress people who didn’t even expect it of me! Why was I even out here, why did I even move all the time- I should’ve just stayed with Terrence. God I’m so stupid, why do I always do this to myself?

It wasn’t fair, I decided, that I was going to die in the middle of some forest because something was messing with me. It wasn’t fair that I never even made close friends for myself, that I pushed everyone away because I couldn’t get over myself or the broken promises my family left behind. The trees only seemed to get darker around me, and I swear there was something or _somethings_ watching me. It was now that the thought set in. I’m never going to be able to leave here, I’m never going to see anything beyond these trees. I’m never even going to see that boulder of a woman or all her crow statues.

The hopelessness started to swallow me, and I started to slow. What was the point of moving if I knew I wasn’t going to make it out of here? It was then that I heard it, a warbling siren call breaking through the mist shrouding my fallen shoulders. I stared ahead in dull apathy before I realized what this meant. It was the first sign of life in what felt like an eternity.

Hope flickered in my eyes, shaky legs breaking into a run powered by desperation rather than terror. It was only when a few long minutes had passed that I realized the sound breaking the quiet was the song of a raven. I followed the fluttering notes, and in just a few minutes I finally started to see change in the trees boxing me in. Thin rays of sunlight trickled through the looming canopy of the pines, and a staggering hope filled my chest. I prayed with all I had that the fragile, warbling hope singing in my chest would not shatter if this turned out to be a false illusion. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it if this turned out to be the hallucination of a desperate man.

The sight of the bird was one I don’t think I’ll ever forget. The bird's feather glimmered with sunlight, and the clear notes of its song rang in the brightened forest. It twirled and fluttered through the trees, the dash of midnight feathers a soaring beacon that I knew would guide me to safe passage. 

At the end of the trail, I could see someone lift their arm up before the bird landed on the limb with a happy click. I was surprised to see it was Victoria, a smile gracing her features before she gestured for me to follow. The crow pecked at some lint on her coat indulgently before ruffling its feathers, and we entered the cabin again to the jingle of the bell. It was not unlike the first call from the raven back in the forest.

Victoria was quick to bring me a mug of hot cocoa once I’d sat down on an ottomon opposite the desk, and she draped a light blanket around my shoulders before starting to tend to the raven perched on her. I stared into the wavy reflection I could see in the mug before I took a drink, the mug warming my hands from the November cold. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, putting the device to my ear after fumbling with the dial pad. The phone rang once, twice, and a third before the receiver picked up, and Terrence’s surprised voice pulled me from my indifference. 

The shock seemed to have finally worn off, and a few tears dripped down my face to accompany my wavering voice. I tried to take a deep breath before I clutched the front of the blanket tighter.

“Terrence, do you think I could move back in with you?”

I could hear him stall at my tone, and he put something down before he responded. The joy I could hear, probably at seeing me call so soon, was overpowered by the worry in his voice. 

“I mean, that’d be fine since I haven’t really found someone else yet. Are you okay? Did something happen?”

It was hard to keep my voice from cracking. “Yeah, yeah something did happen. I’m uh, heading back soon. Should be there in half an hour or so, are you at the apartment?”

“Yeah, I’m here. See you soon Ray.”

“See you soon.”

I put my phone back in my pocket after I hung up, and I was quick to wipe away any tear tracks before I looked up to see where Victoria was. She was still tending to the bird that had saved me, and I don’t know how I couldn’t have seen how motherly she was before. Even looking at the faded pictures on the walls, she must be a massive family person, she has so many pictures of all of the people she cares about.

She glanced back at me once after she knew the phone call ended, and she gave me one of the warmest smiles I have ever received from a near-stranger. I looked forward to seeing Terrence again. His smile was unparalleled.

Victoria gave me one of her smaller raven sculptures on the way out, the cedar wood smooth and vibrant. I gave her a smile in return before I made my way back to the Toyota.

Maybe I’ll visit again sometime.

**Author's Note:**

> So uh, maybe this was interesting? I definitely wanted to spend more time on it, but as of right now I don't think I'll be getting back to this. I do kind of want to write an alternate ending for it, so maybe that'll happen someday lmao
> 
> Anyway, have a nice rest of the day (づ￣ 3￣)づ


End file.
